CloudKicker Academy
Prologue Knock, knock. ''The dark grey pegasus's hoof rapped against the door. "Hello? Honey, are you okay? Because you've been in there a-!" He pushed open the door to reveal his "honey," a dark gold unicorn with an ebony black mane, magically finish slitting a dagger across another mare's throat, her lifeless body slumping down to the floor, her dark blood standing out against the stark white tile. She looked up at him, sheathing it. Her face was a mask of carefully forged calmness, looking almost ghostly in the bright, unnatural lighting. "I told you to wait outside." "How-Why-Did you just-Is she dead? Why did you kill her?!" The panicked stallion sputtered. "She knew too much. She had to die. Please understand. The Lab must conserve the greater good. We need you. ''I need you. For your own good, just forget what you saw." Her composed face let the slightest bit of desperation flit across, into her eyes and her voice. "And what 'greater good' is that? I joined this corporation to help other ponies! Is my research really being used that way? How is it being used?!" The unicorn did not reply. He spread his wings in frustration. "You don't even know, do you?" "I do. I just can't tell you." "Otherwise I'd end up like her, right?" He gestured to the dead pony on the ground. "How close am I to that?! How close is everyone working here to that?!" "Starry..." She was cut off as the disturbed pegasus turned to leave. "I have to go." "Starry, please..." She moved to stop him, but he pushed past her. "Goodbye, Night." With that, he galloped out of the door, his hoofbeats echoing through the long corridors before abruptly stopping when he took to the air to gain more speed, anything to get him out of this place faster. The defeated unicorn watched until he was out of sight and then cast her eyes to the floor. She stood still in the silence, a corpse her only company. When her eyes snapped up again, they were full of toxic, mechanical purpose wrenching away the slightest bit of sadness. She strode out into the hall, barking orders. "Kicker! Make sure all guards are patrolling and order a lockdown in section 6-B! It looks like another pony is dying tonight." Episode one Wind whips my face and brings tears to my eyes as I streak through the sky, falling to my doom. My wings flop uselessly behind me in the air. There's nothing I can do as gravity does it's ugly work. Besides scream. And scream... and scream... and- I suddenly wake up, bolting upward in the hayloft, the barn ceiling greeting me to another bright and lovely day as I bash my head against it. Ugh. It was just a nightmare. I wonder what sort of thoughts were filling my head before bed to bring THAT on. Oh, right. I'm going to a school in the sky. Sweet Celestia... What made my siblings think it was a good idea to send me there?! I've never even been out of Ponyville before, let alone been so high up! That's a disaster just waiting to happen. My life was going just fine the way it was! Why change it?? I just need to think this through... It all started yesterday. I woke up from a blissful, nightmare-free night, thinking that it was just going to be another day of farmwork at Sweet Apple Acres. I go downstairs for a delicous breakfast of apple-something-or-other, and there's my sister and brother waiting for me. Applejack was all: "Barn Owl, we need to talk about your future." And Big Mac was like: "Eeyup." "Hm?" I answered, not really listening as I buried my face into a slice of pie. "Y'see," Applejack continued, "When Ma and Pa adopted you, they knew that raising a pegasus as an earth pony wouldn't exactly be healthy..." "Why?" I asked, wiping pie crumbs off my face, "Do I look unhealthy?" Sure I was a bit chubby, but with all this good food, who could resist? "Well, you've never really been off the farm or seen any new places..." "We can't all be adventuring heroes like you. You and your friends just saved the Crystal Empire from eternal winter, for Luna's sake! Me? I'm content with just staying here." "It doesn't help that you're always hiding in the hayloft when we have visitors." "So I'm a little anti-social. Nobody's perfect." I didn't like where this conversation was heading. "You need to connect with your own species. WE sure don't know how to teach you to control weather." "I don't need to know that. As far as I'm concerned, YOU guys are 'my own species,' because my actual 'own species' didn't even want me." I don't know much about my life before I was adopted. All I know was that I was found as a filly in the Everfree forest. My wings were clipped. Somepony, probably my parents, had done that to me and left me for dead. My wingtips grew back, but the feathers were pitch-black, a stark contrast to my cream-colored coat. It's a creepy, constant reminder to me of how unsafe it could be outside this farmouse. "You can't blame the all the pegasi in Equestria for what happened to you. The sky is where you belong... Which is why our parents made arrangements for you to be sent to Cloudkicker Academy when you were old enough. Not as fancy as the Wonderbolts Academy, but not too shabby, either. "A BOARDING SCHOOL?!" I lowered my voice a little, hearing Apple Bloom and Granny Smith stir in their sleep upstairs. "You want to send me to a boarding school?? No, no, no, no, very, very, bad idea..." "Why not? "I-I haven't, It's just so... so... new." I finished weakly. "Why can't I just stay with you guys?" "We have both agreed it will be good for you to live your life learning as a real pegasus, and you're enrolled now, so there's no turning back. That's why it is not a 'very bad idea' you will be going to the academy. Plus... it's what Ma and Pa would have wanted." That made me pause. Applejack broke the silence, continuing, her voice not as firm as before. "It won't be so bad. You won't be at school ALL the time. You'll have breaks to come visit us... Also, you're leaving tomorrow, so you'd better get packing." "Eeyup," Mac added. "Wait... What?" I thought I had heard her wrong. But I didn't. It was actually pretty smart of her to spring this on me last-second so that I couldn't think up any escape plans. I just wish I could have stood up for myself more... but with my sister's stubborness, it would probably have been as effective as talking to a brick wall. And so, I was left to pack of my belongings and wait in horror for the day ahead... ...And now that day was here. I said (quite possibly) my last goodbye to my family before they all loaded me on the Friendship express and told me "It's straight up when you get off!" and "Don't forget to write!" It was almost sunset as I got off the train, suprising myself that I actually enjoyed the ride. Following their directions, I took to the sky, aiming for a large cloud sillohuetted against it. Lots of flapping, puffing, fighting the wind, getting weird looks from other pegasi, (they made it look so easy!) and generally making a fool out of myself later, it finally came into view. I have to say... I was impressed. The school was made from clouds, built on a cloud. It's highest point being an enormous bell-tower. The sun's dying rays cast it into stunning shades of gold, pink, and purple. To the right I thought I could spot some sort of obstacle course. The only solid-looking structures were groups of... cabins? far off the the left of the main building. I touched down, wobbling sideways, unbalanced by the cloud's soft, springy texture, almost falling off the edge. I finally regained my composure and walked inside the big bell-tower building, wondering what to do now. There was a crowd pegasi grouped inside, so I figured I was in the right place. The inside of the building had solid looking walls, like the clouds were smoothed out, spiraling staircases (almost everyone used their wings instead.), and purple and gold banners, the school colors. One banner hung in the middle of the hall. It read: WELCOME FRESH MEAT TO CKA! Delightful. Below it read: MEET YOUR TEACHERS. I almost jumped out of my feathers when a bolt of lightning suddenly seared through the sky and struck right behind me, followed by a thundery voice. "HA! Gets the newbies every time!" It belonged to a dark grey pegasus with even darker grey, lightning-shaped stripes zigzagging across her coat. Her mane was a dark teal and spiked up at odd angles. She extended her hoof in greeting. "Hi. I'm Electric Storm, but you can call me Storm. I'll be teaching you how to wrangle clouds, summon winds, dominate downpours... basically weather control in general. Plus, if you take my after-school skyjitsu class, I'll teach you how to apply it in combat!" I was still recovering from my near heart attack and didn't respond, staring off into space like a traumatized goat. She must have thought I was staring at her because she shrugged and said, "half-zebra." After an awkward moment of silence, she walked off uncomfortably. "Okay, then... I guess I'll see you in class." I swallowed my weak response and went to go see the other teachers. There were two siblings, Rusty and Dusty. Dusty's full name was Dusty Novel. He was as dull as his name, with a patchy brown coat and pale grey mane, complete with a monotone voice that almost put me to sleep. He would be the history/literature teacher. His sister, the school nurse, was almost his opposite, with a bright bubblegum-pink coat and bubblier personality. Although, when I asked her what Rusty was short for, she grinned and said "Rusty Scalpel!" I decided that was enough teacher-meeting for one day after that. I stumbled around in the dark, past rows of cabins until I came to what I figured to be the firs year's and peeked inside. I was looking face-to-face with another pony with a sunny yellow coat, lime-green mane, and maniacal grin. "Um... Hi there." "HI!!! ARE YOU OUR CABIN COUNSELOR??" I took a step back. He was LOUD. "Nnno... My name's Barn Owl." "OOOH COOL. CAN I CALL YOU BARNY?" "No." "OWLY?" "Who are you...?" "My name's Sugar Buzz!" Sugar buzz... I had heard that name before. I winced as I remembered where. I wondered if it wasn't too late to go catch the next train home. "Did you keep bees, by any chance?" "HOW DID YOU KNOW??" "I... I think I lived on your street." I had never seen him, but I had heard rumors that a pegasus had joined the farming community and that he was a bit... off. He was known for annoying all of the neighbors as the "crazy beekeeper pegasus." Maybe they found a way to send him here to get rid of him. "My friends told me not to keep sugar-making creatures with touchy tempers and stingers. They said it would have an effect on my mental health, so... I killed 'em all." He burst out laughing at my horrified expression. "I'm just kidding!" His ears drooped. "I don't have any friends... But now that I'm here I've met you and you and you and you," he pointed at me and then gestured into the dark of the rest of the cabin, "and we're gonna be best friends forever!!" "Will you be quiet!?" A gloomy sounding voice came from the back corner of the cabin. It belonged to a pegasus with a dark grey coat and dark blue mane that went over his eyes. "I'm trying to contemplate the meaninglessness of life in silence. Life is meaningless." "You got it, Spring Showers! From now on my lips are ZIPPED!!" The pegasus didn't look convinced and started counting. "Aaaaand the silence ends in three..." Sugar started making uncomfortable mmmfing noises. "two..." He looked about ready to explode. "One." "HAVE YOU MET OUR NEW CABINMATE?" Spring gave an exasperated sigh. "She's not our new cabinmate. If you would stop yelling for one second maybe she can think enough to realize she's wandered into the colt's cabin." I gasped. "Oh, right! Although, since you're here, I'll introduce you to the rest of us anyway! There's two more! They're siblings, too! My, you're a great runner!" Sugar's voice echoed behind me as I hoofed it as fast as I could to the cabin across from there. "They should really put signs on these things!" I peeked inside and was met by the sounds of a very loud argument between three fillies. It seemed mainly between two of them, one with a glossy white coat and a jet-black mane, purple eyes, and fiery orange streaks down her hair who looked like she owned the place and could do whatever she wanted, and a scruffy, tangle-haired one who's turquoise mane clashed horribly with her dull orange coat, who looked like she was an intruder in this place and was going to milk it for all it was worth before she was caught. "Oh, thank goodness! Are you the counselor? Can you get them to stop fighting? I'm trying to study here!" The voice came from a periwinkle blue pegasus with a curly, darker blue mane streaked with pink and a cutie mark of a star constellation. "What are you even trying to study for?! It's the first day!" The white one looked up from her bickering to inteject. "It should be used for get situated... if this stubborn little mule will ever let me." "You never know what might happen!" "Why does everybody think I'm the counselor?" "I don't know. She should have been the first one here, but she's gone for some reason. That must mean you're Barn Owl, correct? I'm Little Dipper." "Mmmmmmhow did you know my name?" "I memorized everypony in the cabin's names and a bit of their backgrounds, so it wouldn't be awkward getting to know everyone, but now it seems kind of creepy when I'm saying it out loud, which is very awkward, and you're making an awkward face, which is making me feel awkward... oh, dear I'm not very good at this..." "No, no, it's okay, you're fine. Since you know about everyone, who are those two?" Dipper looked delighted to be of help. Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfiction (Fanon) Category:Content (Comicwing)